The Charge

From the master of suspense…

Opening Statement

Notorious tell the story of Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), daughter
of a Nazi spy convicted of treason against the United States just following the
second world war. Following the verdict Huberman throws a party, something she
does often. At the party she meets a dashing stranger named Devlin (Cary Grant).
It turns out Devlin works for the US Intelligence community and his superiors
are convinced that using her notoriety as a Nazi's daughter, she can infiltrate
a cadre of Nazi's living in Brazil and find out what their plans are. Of course
during the course of events Devlin and Huberman fall in love. That love is put
to a great deal of strain when, in the course of her assignment, Huberman is
forced to marry a Nazi named Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains). Huberman's
mission is to find out what secret plot the Nazi's are working on. During all of
this she must also survive the attentions of the mother-in-law from hell Madame
Sabastian (Madame Konstantin).

The Evidence

Notorious has long been my favorite Hitchcock film from his Hollywood
pre-color days. The collaboration between screenwriter Ben Hecht (The Front Page), producer David Selznick
and Hitch was a lesson in chemistry. Throw into the mix the charm and sexuality
of Grant/Bergman and Rains/Bergman and the film really is something quite
special.

One of the best things about Notorious is how simple it really is and
how well it holds up today. To quote the master himself from the excellent book
Hitchcock/Truffaut—The definitive study of Alfred Hitchcock by Francois
Truffaut: "The story of Notorious is the old conflict between love and
duty. Cary Grant's job—and it's a rather ironic situation—is to push
Ingrid Bergman into Claude Rains's bed. One can hardly blame him for seeming
bitter throughout the story, whereas Claude Rains is a rather appealing figure,
both because his confidence is being betrayed and because his love for Ingrid
Bergman is probably deeper than Cary Grant's. All of these elements of
psychological drama have been woven into the spy story." Could not have
said it better myself. For the period, the film is very frank, especially in
regards to its sexual aspects. It is very well acted. It is tense and it
possesses an amazingly suspenseful climax. What more could anyone ask for?

As always Hitch was pushing the envelope and in this case was predicting
history. The MacGuffin of the film is the idea of the German's working with
uranium a full year before the bomb at Hiroshima was dropped. The US government
was so concerned in fact, that the FBI had Hitchcock followed for three months.
How about that for art imitating life?

This version of Notorious comes by way of my favorite little company
that could—Anchor Bay. The film is presented in its original full-frame
format, in glorious black and white. And while there are some obvious problems
with a film this old, none of it is too distracting. In fact, considering it's
age, the film looks quite good. Sound is of the mono variety and here was the
great surprise: I could not hear anything in the way of pops or hiss. Dialogue
was clear as a bell and the music shined through. Very impressive.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

I suppose the only disappointment is the disc's lack of extras. This is
especially made clear when looking at Universal's editions of Vertigo and Psycho and
the upcoming The Birds. But I suppose we can't have everything. On the
plus side Notorious is priced to own. At my local Best Buy I picked this
up for $14.99! That is cheaper than the VHS!

Closing Statement

Notorious is one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films and it stars two
of Hollywood's biggest stars, in roles that they can really sink their teeth
into. It's priced right and if you love film, it belongs on your shelf.

The Verdict

Everyone connected with Notorious is released on their own
recognizance. They and this film have withstood the greatest judge of
all…time. I think I need to go back and watch Spellbound again. So it's time to say
thank you, good day and case dismissed!